Notre Dame 2024 Defensive Class Will Be Defined By The Finish

All the angst about Notre Dame defensive recruiting in the 2024 class will be erased of the Irish staff can close strong

Notre Dame has been loading on defensive prospects in the last month, adding six commits on that side of the ball in under 40 days. It began on April 22nd when the Irish landed Georgia defensive end Cole Mullins, and was capped off with a commitment from Texas edge Loghan Thomas.

In between Notre Dame also landed North Carolina defensive end Bryce Young, Arizona safety Kennedy Urlacher, Nebraska linebacker Teddy Rezac, Virginia athlete Bodie Kahoun, and even 2025 defensive tackle Davion Dixon.

Of course, Notre Dame also lost long-time defensive tackle commit Owen Wafle, and the Irish currently have eight defensive players committed in the 2024 class. 

It's certainly some much-needed positive momentum, but at the present moment this isn't a defensive class that closes the gap on programs like Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, etc. Notre Dame closing the defensive gap on those programs will be determined by how well the staff can finish the defensive class.

BIG-TIME BACKER IS NEEDED

Notre Dame recruited linebacker at an elite level when current head coach Marcus Freeman was the primary driver of the class. The 2022 and 2023 classes were both loaded with athletic and talented backers, and the depth at that position has even helped fuel the Vyper position.

The 2024 class is the first where Al Golden and the defensive staff are the primary drivers of the recruiting efforts, and if that class is going to be anywhere close to what the previous two classes was a strong finish is needed. In fact, how well Notre Dame finishes the entire defensive class is going to be a very clear answer to whether or not Golden is serious about recruiting at Notre Dame. So far the results have been solid, at best, but a strong finish will answer a lot of questions.

Landing a class as good as the previous two years was always going to be tough due to the fact this is a bit of a down year nationally at the position. Rezac and Kahoun are very athletic, but both are also raw. Notre Dame is betting on high upside players in what is not an overly favorable linebacker class. 

If the staff can close strong it will make this a talented linebacker class with a lot of potential. If the staff can't close strong it will leave the position with questions.

There are two players that are important to a strong finish. Notre Dame must land one of either California star Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa or Virginia athlete Chris Cole. Viliamu-Asa has been Notre Dame's top linebacker target for about a year, and while Cole is new to the board, he's exceptionally talented.

Viliamu-Asa would give Notre Dame a physical, high-floor linebacker that would be the perfect complement to the two talented but projectable current commits. He and Kahoun would slide into one of the two inside backer positions with Rezac playing Rover. 

Landing Viliamu-Asa would not only be impactful from a talent added standpoint, he would also be a big perception win for the Irish. A Top 100 recruit and a standout for one of the nation's best high school programs, Viliamu-Asa joining the Notre Dame class would be a statement victory for this staff. Beating Ohio State and USC would also be impactful.

Landing Cole would make this a bit of a high-risk class, but it would also be a very long, rangy and athletic group of linebackers. Cole isn't ranked all that high by most services (247Sports is the only that ranks him as a 4-star), but he's incredibly gifted athletically. Landing Cole would mean Kahoun would likely need to play Mike to get all three on the field, but Cole could play either Rover or Will, with Will being his best future position.

Barring the staff somehow getting in on an elite linebacker we don't know about yet, not landing one of these two players would be a huge loss and mean they struck out on two of their top three linebacker targets, with Kahoun being the only win.

ELITE DEFENSIVE LINE FINISH

We've talked a lot about defensive line recruiting in recent weeks. Whether it was Wafle's de-commitment and what surrounded it, Rushing's on-again-off-again vibes with Notre Dame, or everything related to Justin Scott, this is a position of high intrigue.

Notre Dame will be tough to beat for Florida nose tackle Sean Sevillano. Landing him would give Notre Dame a pure nose tackle in the class, something it seems to be striving for after landing Dixon in the 2025 class and making such a hard push for Sevillano.

While that gives Notre Dame a position fit, it's not a needle moving commitment, should it happen in the near future.

This class will ultimately be judged by whether or not Notre Dame can land either Scott or Rushing, or possibly both. Scott is vitally important for Notre Dame in many ways, not the least of which is the fact he's a massive (6-5, 310) interior player with loads of potential. He's also a local player, and the Irish cannot afford to miss out on an elite upside local prospect. 

Rushing is considered more of a long shot, but he's an elite edge player that could play either end spot in the Notre Dame defense. The Irish are trying to have more success in Arizona, which makes sense after how good Benjamin Morrison was last season. Landing Rushing would obviously be the next huge pickup from the region, and he'd give the Irish the kind of elite, highly-ranked and talented edge player it hasn't landed in years.

Missing out on both Scott and Rushing would be incredibly disappointing, and would cause this defensive line class to fall short of being a gap closing unit. This is true even though I really like the current edge class. Mullins, Thomas and Young all have loads of potential, but Rushing would be the best of the bunch. Missing out on Scott would mean the Irish fell short on numbers for inside players for a second straight class.

Freeman says that Notre Dame will be a line driven football team. That can't be the case without big time recruiting results at those positions.

OVERTURN SAFETY STRUGGLES

Safety has been a major problem area on the recruiting trail in recent seasons. Adon Shuler and Ben Minich were quality pickups in 2023, but the Irish completely struck out in the 2022 class and lost two commits in the 2023 class (Peyton Bowen, Brandyn Hillman). Landing just two safeties in two classes falls well short of the ideal numbers.

This has rightfully raised questions about the recruiting chops of young safeties coach Chris O'Leary. A quality on-field coach, O'Leary's track record on the recruiting trail has been a major problem area. Success in the 2024 class would not only silence those concerns, it would give him the needed depth and talent needed to get the safety position on track.

Notre Dame already has a commitment from Arizona safety Kennedy Urlacher. How this class is defined will be determined by who is added to the class along with Urlacher.

In my opinion, there are four players that are "Group A" players on the board for Notre Dame. These are the kind of athletes that either have gap closing talent now, or gap closing potential at the safety position. That group, for me, is Dejuan Lane, Brauntae Johnson, Davis Andrews and Jaylen McClain. I love Oliver Miles upside, Paul Mencke Jr has ability and I love the potential of Malcolm Ziglar, and adding any one of those players would be beneficial to the Irish class. I don't grade any of them on the same level as the first group, but it's a talented list top to bottom.

Land one player from that A Group and one from that second group to go with Urlacher would give Notre Dame the numbers it needs in the class, and there would certainly be some potential in the class. Land two players from the A Group and Notre Dame goes from having questions at safety to having a gap closing safety class. Land none of the A Group players but get two players from the second group would make this safety class look a lot like the linebacker class. There's potential, but the low-floor/high-ceiling nature of the group would be a cause for concern.

Being able to put Johnson back on the target board was huge for the Irish staff, and raises the chances that Notre Dame will get at least one A Group recruit at safety if they can close on him.

FLIP SEASON

If Notre Dame has the kind of success I think they can have on Saturdays in the fall there's a chance the staff could flip some big time players. Whether that's flipping a player like Kaleb Beasley, who is currently committed to Tennessee, or flipping players like Scott, Rushing, Villiamu-Asa, Cole, Lane, etc. should they pick someone else, Notre Dame being able to flip a talented player would be a positive sign about the recruiting chops the current defensive staff possesses.

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Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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